Forget It Wenger – Another Manchester United Reject (Not Evans To Arsenal Sounds Like A Bad Idea

Manchester United brought in Chris Smalling and Phil Jones in the space of a season, and they were seen as the eventual replacements for the Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. United had grown to experience a lot of success backed by the impressive Ferdinand and Vidic partnership at the back. Jones was seen as the more talented of the two and he also attracted a lot of interest from the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham. Smalling, meanwhile, was a relatively low profile transfer from Fulham. The former cost £16.5 million while the latter is believed to have cost £8 million.

Yet, there has been a sea change in terms of their career progression over the last couple of years. As Jones has gone from one injury to another, Smalling has grown in strength and he has become a regular for the England national team as well. United are reportedly in the market for signing a right back with Southampton defender Jose Fonte thought to be the main transfer target. At present, Antonio Valencia plays in the right back and the arrival of Fonte is only expected to sold a death kneel for Jones. Now, Jones has been linked with a shock move to Arsenal. The gunners are in the market for a new defender, but it would be sensational to see them signed another United player.

Spending almost £20 million on Jones may be the wrong move from Arsenal for a couple of reasons. One of the foremost issues with Jones is that he never seems to find an injury free season. While most top defenders tend to miss around ten games per season at the most, Jones is unavailable for around 100 days every season. He has averaged less than 30 games in his Manchester United career and Arsenal do not want to spend money on yet another injury prone asset. The club are in the market for a new defender largely because of their multiple injury issues across the pitch.

Jones has predominantly been playing at right back in recent years, but Wenger need not concentrate on this area of the pitch especially with Nacho Monreal doing very well. Jones may not be the best solution for Arsenal even though the Englishman may cost substantially less. The transfer may be a nonstarter since it is rumoured that José Mourinho does not want to sell Jones to one of the rivals.